Bihar Hour of Shame ~ Mass Cheating Help by Parents

March
– April is examination time – anxious time for parents, especially whose wards
are appearing for Public exams and some of them are expressive of the Cricket
World Cup happening at this crucial time.
A day after the mathematics paper of the Class
XII Central Board of Secondary Education exam was reported to be the toughest
in 10 years, the Board held a meeting with some of its affiliated schools. The Board was reported to be considering
making the marking more lenient than before.
In the exam conducted on Wednesday, students had panicked seeing a paper
with a changed pattern. There were also rumours rife about the question paper
being mistaken for the IIT Joint Entrance Examinations paper. Although there was no official statement from
the CBSE, agencies reported that the Board might have an evaluation committee
take stock of the students’ grievances to decide if grace marks could be
awarded.This is not
entirely new or the first time – students indulging in cheating / malpractice –
carrying small bits providing gist of answers is also not unheard of – all
along, these were considered to be few and far and done by those not considered
good. It places such errant students
above those who had worked hard has been a sad reality too. Now suddenly, the
photo of parents climbing the examination hall walls like mountaineering experts
has gone viral ! India Today
screamed ‘in Bihar, this is called reaching Greater heights’ and the photo had
its reverberation globally appearing in Telegraph UK and other papers too. The news ridiculed stating that in olden
days, parents came to school to give tiffin boxes and now they climb to pass on
chits ! The system of
education is pretty complex; the school system has an array of differently
structured systems. For some children of
the city, education starts at age 3, from when on parents goad them to tough
levels, demanding them to do whatever they were unable to do, putting them to
grind by enlisting them in too many
courses, tuitions, and extra-curricular activities. Now a days, it is becoming increasingly
difficult to find normal children – children are not allowed to play – but
watch lot of TV programmes and attend too many classes. For the empty prattle, vanity and boasting of parents – children suffer. The
Kamal Prabhu Prakashraj starrer Vasool Raja MBBS was a hilarious comedy. Rajaraman, a small time don gains admission
in Medical college by forcing Dr Margabandhu [Crazy Mohan] to impersonate and
write exam his behalf. [98.3 ….. and How do I know Sir !!] … then when a tough
internal exam is set, Kamal writes the exam with the help of Crazy Mohan
through Bluetooth ! In Sankar’s Robot – Enthiran with the
storyline of Sujatha, Chitti helps Sana
[Aishwarya Rai] first by voice and then by emitting the visual images of books
reflected near her. A couple of years
ago, the shameful incident of a school in Thiruvannamalai - Mount Saint
JosephMatriculation Higher Secondary School (known as Mount School) caught in the shameful act of organised
copying resulting in suspension of 7
teachers, Principal of the school being relieved of examination duty caused
sensation …. In an incident beating them all, the
phenomenon of mass copying being helped by family members of the students
taking board exams is doing rounds. In
the pictures circulated, family members are seen deftly climbing buildings in
broad day light to pass them chits so that they can cheat. More shocking is the fact that such incidents
take place on a large-scale and open manner despite inspection authorities and
police personnel being posted outside the exam venues.The situation is so
bad that the State's minister of education PK Shahi admitted that cheating-free
examinations were not possible in the state. The exasperated minister told the
media, "The government cannot stop cheating in exam... It is also the
responsibility of the society to ensure a cheating-free exam. More than the
government, the parents and guardians of students should come forward (to end
mass cheating)." Lalkeshwar Prasad, Chairman of the Bihar School
Examination Board, visited the center at Mahnar in Vaishali district, but he
and his colleagues faced the wrath of parents and others.It is stated that
the friends and relatives of examinees often hurl stones at authorities deputed
to stop unfair means at the centres. They bribe policemen and teachers to pass
on chits to their wards. “If we try to stop unfair means at a centre, friends
and family members of the examinees gang up to intimidate us,”a schoolteacher
is quoted as saying.With regards – S.
Sampathkumar20th Mar
2015.